In December 2021, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) released its updated ANSI/AAMI ST91:2021, "Comprehensive...
42 million. That's the current number of Americans infected with human papillomavirus (or as it's commonly referred to, "HPV"). Spread through...
For the last two years, the ongoing battle against COVID-19 has left many healthcare workers defeated and overwhelmed. According to a Washington...
Consider the following statistics:
Over the last 2.5 years, 86% of frontline workers have reported struggling with symptoms of...
Ultrasound imaging is a tool that is frequently performed by sonographers, doctors, nurses, and other medical
professionals. With increasingly...
High-level disinfection is defined as the chemical method of killing all microorganisms in or on a medical
instrument, except for a small...
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), prostate cancer currently ranks as the second most common type of cancer in American men, with 2022...
Maintaining infection prevention & control (IPC) protocol for your ultrasound probes that ensures the integrity of your transducers and the...
The utilization of ultrasound with aiding in vascular access procedures has been a regular practice for nearly four decades. Over that time, a great...
Since 1984, ultrasound has been regularly utilized in a wide variety of vascular access procedures, ranging from ultrasound-guided central venous...
Ultrasound is often used by vascular access teams and nurses to guide certain vascular access procedures, such as placing PICC lines or...
Medical facilities exist to care for and improve the health of their patients. However, a major concern for patients is the risk of getting an...
The Joint Commission (TJC) states: "Standardizing the use of high-level disinfectants and sterilization practices are critical for ensuring that...
A previous blog post took you through the necessary steps for cleaning ultrasound transducers in How to Clean an Ultrasound Probe. Cleaning is a...
Cleaning is a mandatory first step in the high-level disinfection process of intracavity ultrasound transducers, such as transesophageal and...
The required use of a probe cover for every endocavity ultrasound procedure has been well established by standards set by governing bodies and...
The Joint Commission (TJC) was founded in 1951, with an inspiring vision to transform how people experience healthcare across all settings. In this...
Fine needle aspiration biopsies (FNAs) are common procedures performed by physicians around the world, in facilities
large and small. An FNA...
Infection prevention and control is a major focus of healthcare facilities to 1) lower the risk of patients contracting healthcare acquired...
What's the problem?
As the steps to reprocess medical devices using high-level disinfection increase and the population of patients imaged...
In 2017, The Joint Commission released new data showing that many hospitals seeking accreditation continue to struggle with meeting...
Prevention is always better than the cure!
Infection prevention is an ongoing patient safety issue that must be at the forefront of every healthcare...
Why is it so important to practice sterile technique during vascular access procedures as a part of the overall infection control protocol in...
Since the spring of 2016, the growth of ultrasound in the United States has erupted with the FDA approval of contrast for liver examinations. The...
As medical professionals, we constantly evaluate situations, identify problems and take action to ensure the best
results. From frontline...
Patient safety and maintaining The Joint Commission (TJC) accreditation standards are two of the most important (if not THE most important)...
When ultrasound is used for point-of-care needle guided procedures, including vascular access or regional anesthesia, it is recommended by the FDA...
Introducing Automated Disinfection Systems for Ultrasound Transducers
With the steady growth of ultrasound combined with an increasing awareness of...
The Joint Commission (TJC) has defined guidelines on storage for semi-critical devices:
"The endoscope should be hung vertically with the distal tip...
Prostate cancer continues to be the second most common occurring cancer in men9. According to The American Cancer Society, the estimated number of...
Since their introduction more than three decades ago, mechanical needle guides have been used to assist clinicians in the accuracy of placing needles...
While selecting the appropriate probe cover for your ultrasound examination may seem a rather simple task, there are several key points to consider...
We continue sharing ultrasound probe cleaning guidelines in part two of our "Top Tips for High-Level Disinfection in Ultrasound" series. If you...
CIVCO's blog will provide you with a wealth of information to help you implement best practices for high-level disinfection in ultrasound. These...
The process of performing high-level disinfection on ultrasound probes - both transesophageal (TEE) and endocavity transducers - possesses unique...
In recent years, proper storage of ultrasound probes has fallen under the increased scrutiny of compliance surveyors. The Joint Commission (TJC)...
The Joint Commission issued guidelines on storage for semi-critical devices in 2013:
"Store the device in a manner that will protect from damage or...
If your facility's goals are to improve patient safety, ensure compliance and extend the life of your transesophageal (TEE) transducers, then...
When it comes to disinfecting transesophageal (TEE) probes, the process can be more challenging than other endocavity probes. Let's touch on some of...
According to The Joint Commission (TJC), the second most commonly cited area for noncompliance in hospitals in 2015 has been related to 'the...
While attending a radiology conference, we met an ultrasound manager who shared an experience from her last inspection when objections were raised...
New HLD disinfectants, such as hydrogen peroxide-based HLDs, have emerged that offer some distinct benefits and thus merit review.
Our GUS...
As new technologies emerge for disinfection of ultrasound probes, it's timely to restate the critical importance of pre-cleaning before you...
Automated disinfection of your ultrasound probes improves workflow and standardizes the disinfection process. While automated reprocessing of...
*UPDATE: Effective 12/31/15, electrical leak testing of TEE probes is now mandatory per the IAC.
Proper maintenance of your TEE probe is critical to...
Below is a whitepaper featured in Infection Control Today, written by PCI Medical (now CIVCO Medical Solutions).
INTRODUCTION
With over 6,000...
PCI Medical (CIVCO Medical Solutions) offers an easy-to-use thermometer to help you ensure that you are using your High-Level Disinfectants at the...
PCI Medical (CIVCO Medical Solutions) announces two new fully enclosed GUS Disinfection Soak Stations with longer disinfection containers. The new,...
Customers regularly ask us specific questions about vapor and fume control, which has been our area of expertise since 1995. That said, this week's...
Before we delve into the high-level disinfection process of ultrasound probes, let's review the highlights that we covered in Part 1:
...
"It is important that all spills, including drips and splashes, be cleaned up immediately." *
According to OSHA and ANSI (Association of the...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the trend in healthcare services has shifted significantly from inpatient hospital...
PCI Medical (CIVCO Medical Solutions) customers often ask us questions related to the temperature of their high-level disinfectants. Some questions...
For many healthcare workers, the act of dumping non-deactivated disinfectant solutions down the drain is a common practice, with many believing that...